There is a long road to deprivatizing the Armed Forces – 02/17/2024 – Bruno Boghossian

As soon as Jair Bolsonaro left power, military personnel involved in plotting a coup were already dreaming of an amnesty. It was January 2, 2023 when Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid wrote that he feared being arrested. General Estevam Theophilo replied that his colleague should remain calm: “I’m going to talk to Arruda today. Nothing will happen to him.”

There was no private soldier in history. Even after the change of government, Cid was still in line to take over a Special Operations battalion. Theophilo, who weeks earlier had declared support for the coup plans, was part of the High Command. General Júlio Cesar de Arruda was the Army commander — he would be fired by Lula weeks later.

The expectation of shielding reflects a broad process of using the Armed Forces as a fiefdom of corporatism, political ambitions and private interests of its members. Some of them exploited authority and the military machine both to create the attempted rupture and to protect the coup plotters.

Officials notoriously entangled in the web remained in important posts after the change of government, while commanders blocked any possibility of a clean-up. Arruda was fired because he insisted on Cid’s promotion and acted softly in front of the coup camps. Theophilo remained in High Command until November.

The mission to sweep the coup scandal under the carpet was summed up in an uninhibited way by Senator Hamilton Mourão. After the PF found abundant evidence about the participation of military personnel in the conspiracy, the retired general spoke of persecution and demanded a reaction from commanders.

The addiction precedes the Bolsonaro government. This is a legacy of the smooth transition that the military faced after the dictatorship, but the hoopla of the captain’s years gave the group additional comfort. In addition to rigorously punishing those who participated or failed to act in the insurrection, there is a long way to go to deprivatize the Armed Forces.

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